Wikipedia Zero

Wikipedia Zero is a project by the Wikimedia Foundation to provide Wikipedia free of charge on mobile phones, particularly in developing markets.[1][2] The program was launched in 2012,[3] and won a 2013 SXSW Interactive Award for activism.[4] The objective of the program is to increase access to free knowledge: in particular without data-usage cost.

Promotional video about free access to Wikipedia, featuring a school-class from South Africa and their open letter to tele-cos.

The Subsecretaria de Telecomunicaciones of Chile ruled that zero-rating services like Wikipedia Zero, Facebook Zero, and Google Free Zone, that subsidize mobile data usage, violate net neutrality laws and had to end the practice by June 1, 2014.[18][19] The Electronic Frontier Foundation has said, "Whilst we appreciate the intent behind efforts such as Wikipedia Zero, ultimately zero rated services are a dangerous compromise."[20]Accessnow.org has been more critical, saying, "Wikimedia has always been a champion for open access to information, but it’s crucial to call out zero-rating programs for what they are: Myopic deals that do great damage to the future of the open internet."[21] The Wikimedia Foundation's Gayle Karen Young defended the program to the Washington Post, saying, "We have a complicated relationship to net neutrality. We believe in net neutrality in America," while adding that Wikipedia Zero required a different perspective in other countries: "Partnering with telecom companies in the near term, it blurs the net neutrality line in those areas. It fulfills our overall mission, though, which is providing free knowledge."[22]

In 2015, Newsweek reported that the Indian Institute of Planning and Management, an unaccredited Indian university, misled rural families into believing it was accredited, while a Wikipedia Administrator whitewashed critical information from the school's Wikipedia page.[23] Mahesh Peri, publisher of a magazine that ran critical investigations into the school, criticised Wikipedia Zero for exposing poor farmers to biased information on the school's page.

Hilary Heuler argues that "for many, zero-rated programs would limit online access to the 'walled gardens' offered by the web heavyweights. For millions of users, Facebook and Wikipedia would be synonymous with 'internet'."[24] In 2015, researchers evaluating how the similar program Facebook Zero shapes ICT use in the developing world found that 11% of Indonesians who said they used Facebook also said they did not use the Internet. 65% of Nigerians, 61% of Indonesians, and 58% of Indians agree with the statement that "Facebook is the Internet" compared with only 5% in the US.[25]